LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Make your voice heard

With everything going on in today’s society, it can be hard to keep up with current events and issues. I understand that. I also know that, although we may not show it as much as we should, we care about what is happening in our communities because we know that we will be the generation that will lead those communities in the near future. That being said, I have recently discovered an issue that needs the attention of the students here at our university.

Representing every student at this school, there are senators who meet bi-monthly to discuss legislation regarding what they think their constituents at this university want. We elected those senators. We are directly represented by them. This has the potential to be a wonderful thing, if only they knew the topics and concerns the students actually cared about and their opinions on those respective topics. I had the opportunity to attend a senate meeting recently, and I was pleasantly surprised at some of the things I heard. During this meeting on Nov. 18, legislation was discussed to enact a bill of solidarity in standing with the minority students of the University of Missouri and other students across the country dealing with racial injustice. This bill sounds good at face value, which is all it has. No real action was taken to directly help students facing racial segregation, only kind words and assuring sympathy. The main problem, however, was not with the bill itself, but how it was passed. A few students of the African American community here at NC State as well as others were present at the meeting to show and speak of how they dealt with racial injustice first-hand. While this was enlightening and fundamental to the understanding of racial injustice on college campuses across the country, including our own, it seems that only the views of those students in attendance were taken into consideration. It doesn’t matter who you are or what ethnicity you belong to, this is fundamentally undemocratic. Although this particular bill seemed to be quite popular and well known, there are other bills passed that the student body hardly knows about. I was taken aback by one particular occurrence in the meeting. During the Senate squabble over the bill in question, I heard one senator in particular say that we should listen only to the individuals who showed up to this meeting because they are the only ones who actually care about this legislation. This is outrageous. He is basically saying that if we do not attend these meetings, then our opinions do not matter.

We need to be up in arms about this. This is a major issue with how our senators view their constituents. Most students do not have the time to represent themselves at these meetings, nor should they have to. So let it be known to that senator and all other individuals who seem to fundamentally misunderstand the role of a representative democratic body, such as our Student Senate: It is not the job of the citizens to voice their opinions at senate meetings, it is the job of our senators to go out and learn the opinions of their constituents on their own. That is why we elected you. That is your job, to represent us, and from what I can tell, you are doing it poorly.

Now students, I am speaking directly to you. If we do not enact change and make our voices heard, our governing body will continue writing, reviewing and passing legislation that we hardly know about. We need to be more present in our student government. I implore to contact your senators directly and tell them what you want done, tell them what you care about. We have the power. Speak up, stand out, vote, write, empower others. Serve our community in any way you can. We are the next generation of leaders, followers, workers and Americans. It’s on us. We cannot rely on others to do our work for us. Make your voices heard. I want to ask you directly: What will you do? What will your contribution be? I hope to see you all at the next Senate meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m.